You Never Realize You Need Them Until They're Gone
by Turtle1999
Summary: The train pulled up in front of the Capitol. It was the most elaborate building I had ever seen; it was huge, and had tiny details everywhere, but at the same time the building sucked.
1. Chapter 1

**You Never Realize You Need Them, Until They're Gone**

**A/N: So I was playing my flute and I stopped and I came up with the idea to write this…So read it and let me know what you think.**

Disclaimer: I very sadly don't own the Hunger Games

The train pulled up in front of the Capitol. It was the most elaborate building I had ever seen; it was huge, and had tiny details everywhere, but at the same time the building sucked. It represented the unfairness of power in the wrong hands, and how grown men and women, in some strange, disgusting way got a thrill out of watching poor, innocent kids fighting for their lives, for something our ancestors did many years ago.

"Come on Cheyenne," Mark said as he grabbed my hand and gave it a tug.

"I'm coming," I said quietly.

We walked right up to the Capitol building itself and went through the big white doors.

We were lead up to our rooms.

Since I lived in District 1, I was supposed to adore the Capitol, enjoy other kids suffering at the hand of the Capitol, be strong and want to be reaped. It was some image that our parents had tried to grind into our heads and try to form us to be people that we weren't. I played along with it, because I didn't want to stick out…even though our district was the wealthiest, our Peacemakers were the strictest. All though we weren't supposed to figure much out about other districts, we still did. I mean sometimes, very rarely, the richer districts team up with the poorer ones during the game and they tell about their district. Our district has more victors than most, and they tell everyone about the other districts.

We reached the first set of doors and Mark and I were told that it would be our room for the next coming weeks.

There were two beds, a grand bathroom, a mini fridge, and lacy pictures everywhere.

"Yuck!" Mark and I said at the same time.

"The Capitol sure doesn't have a good sense of fashion," I said lightly.

"I'm with you there," Mark said.

"I need a shower," I said and headed off toward the bathroom.

As I walked over, I could feel Marks eyes staring at me as I walked through the door and closed it. I turned on the tap of the bathtub and waited for it to fill with warm soapy water. When it was full, I stripped off my sweaty cloths and slipped into the warm silky water. I lay there not moving, just soaking in the warm goodness, until eventually it got uncomfortably warm and got out. I found a towel and wrapped it around myself and walked out, hoping to find something else to wear besides my sweaty cloths that I had been wearing for two days. When I walked out, Mark was laying on one of the beds. He looked at me as soon as I got out of the bathroom.

"What? Have you never seen a girl in a towel before?" I asked teasingly.

"No." He replied simply.

"Oh" I said as I walked over to the dresser hoping to find some cloths, and quickly.

"You should go shower," I told him "You don't know how good it makes you feel afterward," I said encouragingly, hoping to find someway that I wouldn't have to change in front of him.

"Okay," He said and sauntered off.

When the door had closed with a click, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I finally found something that sort of fit. It was a simple pale purple shirt, and skirt. There was something about it that made it seem better than it really was, but I couldn't figure it out.

Once I was dressed, I went and opened the fridge; I hadn't realized how hungry I was. In it was simple stuff, fruits, deli meats, cookies, and down below in the freezer was ice cream.

I grabbed an apple and went to lie on the bed that Mark hadn't laid on yet. I devoured the apple and quickly became tired. I don't remember laying down, but I soon found myself in a deep, dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

You Never Realize You Need Them Until They're Gone

A/N: Thank you to you who have reviewed…**A shout out to the first person who reviewed…I would love to read your story, Children Of The Games, it sounds really interesting, but I couldn't find it under stories and you didn't leave you pen name, so if you want you can PM, and I will read your story.**

Disclaimer: I still do not own the Hunger Games. *Sigh*

I awoke to Mark lying on the bed across the room. He too had grabbed an apple and was now asleep.

"Mark," I called softly.

He awoke with a jolt.

"What?" He mumbled.

"We have to get ready, your interviews are tonight, and our stylists will be here really soon," I said.

On cue there came a knock on the door.

I walked over and opened it. Out side there was a crowed of maybe ten or eleven people.

"Um Hi…" I said questionably.

"Hi," said a man through a thick Capitol accent. "I'm Ben, I will be Cheyenne's stylist," He finished.

They walked through the door. Half of them walked over to where Mark was laying on the bed and the rest stayed with me.

They got right to work. One put down a stool, and Ben told me to step up onto it.

Ben took a tape measure out of his bag and measured every inch of my body.

Once he was done, he brushed the shirt off my shoulder, and like I had said earlier it didn't fit too well and it feel all the way to the floor and landed in a heap around my ankles.

I closed my eyes in embarrassment, but before I had closed them, I caught Mark sneak a glance at me. I made a mental note to tell him off later.

My stylists continued as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

They pulled out different colors of every fabric imaginable. It didn't seem as if they would ever come up with something they all agreed on.

They kept at it for a couple hours, stitching here and sewing there, cutting a chunk here, and pins poking me everywhere.

Once the out fit was complete and all the pins removed, they let me off the stool and told me to go look in the floor to ceiling mirror on the opposite side of the room.

When I glanced into the mirror, my breath caught in my throat.

I stared at the mirror, but someone who couldn't possibly be me stared back.

My long blonde hair was in strands, like after you was your hair and shake your head, but it was dry and pinned up in a clip. I was wearing a golden dress that fit snuggly to the curves in my body and hung tightly to the edge of my shoulder. I had a golden tiara resting on the top of my head.

Ben came over and clipped golden hoop earrings onto my ears and pulled the prettiest shoes I had ever seen out from behind his back. I know I'm not really into the whole girly thing, but I do now a nice pair of shoes when I see one. They, like the rest of my outfit were a glowing gold. They had a tall heal and straps that entwined themselves around each other. They came up to about my ankles.

I carefully stepped into them and fastened the small silver buckles. I stood up to get the full effect. I gazed at the image across from me. It was a sight that I would never forget.

Just then Ben placed a golden necklace around my neck and fastened the clasp.

"You look amazing," Mark said as he walked up behind me to look in the mirror.

"You don't look to bad yourself," I said politely back, and I wasn't lying either.

In the mirror, I saw him extend his arm; I played my arm in his as he escorted me to the dining hall.

We walked in and found two seats together at the table. He pulled my chair out for me, and I sat down quietly as he took the seat next to me. The room was quiet while it filled up with other people. They were not all kids that would be competing in the games; but also people from the Capitol, that were going to watch us kill each other in a few weeks. Just the thought of it made my insides twist.

Once everyone was in the room, the food started arriving.

There were trays with all sorts of different colors and foods of all shapes and sizes. They placed platter after platter in front of me. I grabbed a few things, but not to much.

Mark on the other hand had piled his plate high with food and was already digging into it.

I placed my first piece of Capitol food, besides the apple, on my tongue, and slowly started to chew. A burst of flavor erupted in my mouth. I felt like I was floating, the food was the best thing I had ever tasted.

After we finished eating, music started to play and couples started getting up and dancing.

"Will you dance with me?" Mark leaned over and whispered in my ear when we were some of the last people sitting at the table.

I nodded.

He took my hand and led me out to the dance floor. We danced, and it was actually fun. Mark and I spun and danced, until I eventually felt dizzy and headed to the bathroom.

When I got inside the bathroom, I walked over to a stall and sat on the toilet. My stomach was churning with all the rich food. I waited for a while and until I heard people come in.

"I need to loose some food," One said, you could tell she was drunk.

"Here," The other slurred as she passed something to the other person. "Makes you vomit, so you can eat more," She continued sluggishly.

I got out of the stall and walked out. I couldn't believe it; people at the Capitol puked after they ate, just so they could eat more, while there were people who starved everyday, because of the lack of food. The thought made me want to be sick, but I shut the thought out of my head as I went to find Mark, I wanted to enjoy my evening, even if it was in the Capitol.

I found Mark and we started dancing angina, until the music stopped. Everyone turned to look up at the stage. I turned too, but just to see the man that I hated more than anything in the world.

**Important Must Read: If you are the first person who reviewed, I would really like to read your story, so you can either PM me or leave another review with your penname in it! :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**You Never Realize You Need Them Until They're Gone**

**Disclaimer: Well…I still don't own The Hunger Games or any of its characters. :(**

My stomach gave an unfriendly lurch. President Snow was even uglier in person than on T.V. (If that was possible) The fact that he got a pleasure from watching us freak out in an arena, just waiting for someone to come and stab us in the back or something like that, well that just made him even uglier. He was a disgrace to all human beings; he was a disgrace to any living creature.

"Welcome," He began. As if any of us twenty-four actually wanted to be here. "I hope you will find your Capitol…a reminder to where you lie; beneath others. You are just apiece in our games, a form of entertainment. You are nothing to us. You are a reminder to those who come after you, of what will happen when you step out of line." He smiled as if we were having a pleasant conversation. "After your district is interviewed, you will be shown to your rooms, you will stay there, you will not leave until you are told you may." His snake-like lips turned up in the corners. "If you don't want to abide by my rules, you will not live to tell the tale." With that, he turned and walked off the stage.

The music played again and couples started dancing again.

Mark grabbed my waist, and pulled me close. I wrapped my arms around his neck, while he laced his fingers around my waist. We stood there swaying gently to the music. When the music was coming to an end, he leaned his head toward mine. I was about to meet his lips with mine, but someone grabbed one of each our elbows.

"Excuse me, but we need to get these interviews done," The reporter said as she dragged us to the door.

I cast a glance at Mark and for an awkward moment we held each other's gaze, until I looked away. My face burned red with embarrassment as I could feel Mark's gaze on the side of my face.

We walked for what seemed to be forever. We finally appeared in front of a set of nicely made French double doors. The reporter ushered us into the room.

Inside there were two chairs facing toward the camera and a seat next to the camera. There were a couple of peacemakers in the room, I guess in case anything got too out of hand, and a man standing behind the camera.

"You will just need to sit on the chairs and answer any questions I ask. Remember you are trying to get people back home to sponsor you," The reporter said as she took the seat by the camera.

"Here I am, sitting down with the District 1 Tributes, Cheyenne Middleburg and Mark Hillson. Lets start with the big question, were you excited when you were reaped?" She asked looking at me.

"No," I said and paused, thinking of the disgrace I had just brought my family, "No I was and still sad, horrified, actually. Horrified that I am going to be forced to hunt down and kill people that are my age and younger, it would be like killing a younger sibling, but in cold-blood." I stated strongly.

A look of shock shown on the reporters face.

"Mark what are your views on the games?" She asked.

"I completely agree with Cheyenne. I think these 'games' are pathetic and a disgrace to the human race, and it is completely and utterly sick." He spat the last word out.

In the background I could see the peacemakers starting to pay attention; a couple looked pleased that we were saying what we wanted, but the others looked like the would like nothing more to give each of us a slow, painful death, and the probability would be watching it in the games.

"So what is your strategy when you get into the arena?" The reporter asked, hoping to find something that we couldn't make the Capitol look as bad as it was with our answer.

"I dunno," Mark, said, "Wing it, I guess."

A few peacemakers were resisting the urge to laugh, and so was I.

The reporter asked a few more questions, and we answered with answers that would make President Snow want to make sure we that the inside of the arena was the last thing we ever saw.

"And what is your view of President Snow?" She asked.

"Oh I can answer this one," I said. "I think he is a low, selfish jerk with nothing better to do than watch kids suffer. He is shallow and truly evil. He has manipulated ever person in our country, whether they want to admit it or not. Other people that are high up in the Capitol's rankings are not any different; today when I was in the restroom, two women walked in. One complained that she had eaten too much, and wanted to eat more; the other lady gave her a vial. In that vial was a liquid that would make you vomit up what ever was in your stomach. The lady took it and blew her guts out. And then she went back to eating. Here we have these people, and then we have the people that live in the districts, who can barley get enough food to feed their families to where they are barely alive." I said.

The reported looked stunned.

"Well thank you for your time." She made a signal to the cameraman and he stopped recording.

One of the peacemakers that had been enjoying our speech came over and escorted us to our room. He was probability the youngest one in the room, maybe twenty years old.

"That was pretty impressive." He said, he let go of our arms as soon as the door closed behind us. "They told me that I had to become a peacemaker, or they would make sure my thirteen year old brother would get reaped, and my parents would suffer from my decision. Well they forced me to be a Peacemaker and my brother sill was reaped. He was the tribute for District 2 last year." He sucked in a breath. "He died within minutes. A girl stabbed him in the back and continued to stab him, until well after he was dead and the chopper arrived. I promised myself as I was forced to watch from the stands, that I would make the Capitol pay for harming so many innocent people." He finished his story as we arrived at our room. "I want one of you to win, heck I want you both to win." He said as he opened out door and let us in.

"Thank you," Mark said as the door closed and locked with a defying click of the lock.

**A/N:****So****what****did****you****think?****Let****me****know****and****I****will****update!**


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